Tiradentes

Joaquim José da Silva Xavier; November 12, 1746 – April 21, 1792), known as Tiradentes (“Tooth Puller”), was a leading member of the Brazilian revolutionary movement known as the Inconfidência Mineira whose aim was full independence from the Portuguese colonial power and to create a Brazilian republic. When the plan was discovered, Tiradentes was arrested, tried and publicly hanged. Since the 19th century he has been considered a national hero of Brazil and patron of the Military Police.

Educated by his priest brother, Silva Xavier early became a voracious reader. Working as a physician, a merchant, a soldier, and a dentist (hence his nickname Tiradentes), he read widely in the French Philosophes and carried with him copies of the constitutions of the 13 original states of the United States. Sharing his ideas with other intellectuals in the captaincy of Minas Gerais, he advocated complete independence from Portugal. An attempt by Portuguese officials to collect back taxes touched off the call for the rebellion, called the Inconfidência Mineira, led by Tiradentes.

The uprising was a disaster, and Tiradentes was captured in Rio de Janeiro in April 1789. In a trial that lasted two years, he defended the republican cause with great dignity and force. He was the only conspirator to be sentenced to death; he was publicly hanged and then cut into pieces as an example to his fellow revolutionaries.

Independence

Brazil entered nationhood with considerably less strife and bloodshed than did the Spanish-speaking nations of the New World; however, the transition was not entirely peaceful. José Joaquim da Silva Xavier, popularly known as Tiradentes (“Tooth Puller”), instigated in 1789 the first rebellion against the Portuguese, who defeated his forces, executed him, and unwittingly made him a national hero in his martyrdom.

Dia de Tiradentes (Tiradentes Day)

April 21 is in Brazil a public holiday, it is the anniversary of considered the national martyr for being part of the Inconfidência Mineira, an insurgent movement that aimed to establish an independent Brazilian republic.